Apple and Google should work through their ongoing differences in a state-like, "adult" manner, according to Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt. Schmidt, in a recent interview, brushed aside much of the media's coverage of the struggle between the two tech giants, arguing that the two companies will opt for "the adult way to run a business" instead of the "sort of teenage model of competition" he says the press hopes for. Schmidt says that "conversations are going on all the time" between the two companies, though he declined to say whether a grand resolution is in the foreseeable future.

Speaking with The Wall Street Journal, Schmidt expressed confusion over Apple's decision to go with its own mapping solution over Google's. He said, though, that "the adult way to run a business is to run it more like a country. They have disputes, yet they've actually been able to have huge trade with each other. They're not sending bombs at each other."

Schmidt, who has previously characterized the iOS-Android battle as the industry's "defining fight," said he believes Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google CEO Larry Page have "an understanding of this state model. When they and their teams meet, they have just a long list of things to talk about."